Dali and Gamjatang / Dali and Cocky Prince (2021)

Oh my word, Park Gyu-young!  From the spoilt, clueless rich kid in Romance is a bonus book, she transformed into elegant, gentle, genteel Dali.  When I saw her in Romance, I thought she was destined to play supporting roles but she proves me very wrong.  She can be soft-spoken, soft- hearted, sad, scared, subtle, stylish, cheeky, throw in a few fiery moments, make us laugh, and speak English well!  Well done, young lady!

OH MY WORD, Kim Min-jae!!  It is so refreshing for him to come to life here after the melancholy of Do You Like Brahms.  He is wonderful as genuine, funny, smart, single-minded and kind-hearted Mu-hak.  Never thought he could do comedy so well.  He is cute with that so-pleased-with-himself private smile whenever Dali unexpectedly says something affectionate.  And all his little pouty lines – “I just wanted you to be happy”, “I just wanted to be with you”… aww…  His character is well-written, perfectly cast and brilliantly performed.  Outstanding work, young man!  Honestly, Mu-hak would have been very different if Lee Jae-wook had taken the role…

There are too many funny scenes and here are a few highlights:

- when Mu-hak’s stepmother (Seo Jeong-yeon) screams on seeing him in the coffin of the installation piece

- when slimy Tae-jin (Kwon Yul) is the worst “teacher” during the children’s museum visit – this is not played up but it wasn’t lost on me.  Tae-jin has trouble with the cooking activity, such as cracking the eggs, the children eye him sceptically and the nun has to help out!

- all the times Mu-hak gets idioms wrong – they are funny even in the English subtitles; must be hilarious in Korean

- the funny animal sound effects – bird squawking, duck quacking, pig grunting 

getting into the coffin!

Some other details that were not lost on me:

- Dali’s father (Jang Kwang) was interested in Mu-hak’s ideas for attracting more visitors to the museum and in the end, his ideas are used by Dali’s team

- Dali’s father wanted to introduce Mu-hak to Dali, saying she looked like him, and later, Mu-hak tells Dali he suspected she was adopted because she doesn’t look anything like her father!

- Mu-hak’s stepmother helps in sponging him when he is in hospital and sometime after he recovers, he finally refers to her as “mum”

- Mu-hak grew up strong and steady because his dying mother was a reassuring presence, reminding to eat well and not to hate his father – the power of a mother’s love (and that photo with his mother on his wall… aww….); Dali’s father always reminded her to eat, too

- all the name-dropping – artists, Korean celebrities, even Cho Seong-jin!

- Chak-hee (Yeonwoo) is supposedly a ‘female Mu-hak’ [eh… not quite for me, she cannot do a Mu-hak] – also, she may be like him but it is Dali, the total opposite, whom he falls for

checking for the culprit who dismantled the 'garbage' installation

Honorable mentions for:

- Hwang Bo-ra as funny, loyal, resourceful, intelligent Mi-ri – the other ladies are on the bland side

- Dali’s lovely clothes

- Mu-hak’s fancy as well as handsome outfits

- their luxurious offices

- their beautiful crockery and cutlery

- the cute, lively soundtrack

Some questions:

- Why couldn’t those greedy guys develop the surrounding areas with the museum remaining there?  Artistic centres can raise the profile and value, no?

- Smart schemer that he is, why couldn’t Tae-jin think of some other way of ruining the museum than letting Dali’s father gasp to death without helping him?

- Shouldn’t Won-tak (Hwang Hee) be taken off the police investigation since he is like a godson?  Hello, so much conflict of interest here…

- Why isn’t Tae-jin punished for abetting and instigating crime, and for sending the men to attack/harm Gi-cheol (Lee Je-yeon)? 

I would be like Mu-hak in an art museum.  Installation art is totally beyond me but that immersive experience with the light bulbs in the barn is magical, and I did spot some very artistically composed scenes in some episodes.  Lovely!  

but I prefer her with the curls

I’m sure the artwork and artsy filming add a lot to the show.  I wish I could have grasped that aspect more, but I certainly appreciated the show a lot despite not understanding much of the art.  It’s one of my favourites!

16 episodes, KBS